Seventeen-year-old Pauline Ivy Dudley was a shy, quiet, but happy and adventurous young woman who lived with her parents in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
At around ten p.m. on August 20th, 1973, Pauline left her family home to go visit her boyfriend in Milton. Earlier that evening, Pauline had called her best friend Ilona Pallagi to hitchhike with her on the journey, which was something the girls did frequently. Ilona, though, had other plans and declined.
Pauline never arrived at her boyfriend’s house, and the following day, he reported her missing.
A little over a week later, on August 28th, her decomposed body was discovered by a farmer in a field just south of Milton. She was found fully clothed, and her wallet was lying nearby. She had a hairline fracture in her jaw, and there were clear indications that an attempt had been made to conceal the body under the hay in the field, suggesting her death was a homicide.
The community was gripped with anxiety, as five similar murders of young women had recently occurred in the area, making some suspect the presence of a serial killer.
Despite an extensive investigation into several suspects, no one was ever charged with Pauline’s murder. In 2021, Pauline’s friend Ilona told the media that she had her own suspicions about who the perpetrator was, but that the person she had in mind had likely died since and was thus beyond justice.
The case remains open, and in spite of a dearth of forensic evidence, investigators still hope it can one day be solved.
Crime Immemorial 